In honor of Women's History Month, Marblehead Elementary Principal Jacqueline Campbell, Las Palmas Elementary Principal Kristen Nelson and business executive Susan Cramm share their perspective about how far women have come and how far they have yet to go.

Progress and the steps still to come

Women's History Month honors the contributions of women. Throughout time, women have accomplished great feats.

Notably, women have excelled in the fields of medicine, law, education, engineering, communication, government, business and the fine arts (to name a few). Historically, however, these accomplishments were not always recognized.

Thankfully, due to freedom of the press, freedom of speech and our right to liberty and justice for all, these amazing achievements have been brought to light.

In order for ongoing progress to occur, the value of an individual's character, talent and dedication must determine one's notoriety regardless of one's gender, race, socio-economic level, religion or nation of origin.

As a nation and a world we have come a long way and we have a way to go.

– Jacqueline Campbell is the principal at Marblehead Elementary School

The better choices of future generations

I am confident that the next generation of women will make better choices than those of us who came before.

My grandmother, a college graduate at 16, had few career choices and was forced to leave teaching when she married my grandfather. Like many, she had much to contribute and very few ways in which to do it. My mother waited patiently and walked into a series of career doors just as they opened, starting out as a teacher in the '50s, a psychologist in the '70s and finishing up as attorney in the '90s. In contrast, my sister and I selected our respective careers, sprinted through college and medical/graduate school, and poured everything we had into our jobs. To succeed, we masked our femininity in faux-mansuits-with-skirts, worked harder and kept personal challenges hidden from view.

We were blissfully unaware that our new choices had trade-offs. We thought we could have it all and we were wrong.

Last weekend, while walking in San Francisco, my sister and I traded our lessons learned while my (medical intern) niece listened on. My sister shared that she would have paced herself, working less in the early years and so she could have had more family time. For me, I wish I would have started my business sooner so that we could have had more than one child. My niece was listening and looked relieved to confide that she has no intention of following in our footsteps and plans on working three days a week while her children are young.

My niece is free to choose. As are others in her generation. Their decisions will be better – for them and for society – because they will choose how to use their gifts and care for their loved ones without being hemmed in by social restrictions or held up to expectations that are out of synch with who they are and how they wish to live.

–Susan Cramm is an executive coach and president of Valuedance, an executive coaching and leadership development firm

Reflecting on the women who touch our lives

Women's History Month has always been one of those months that make me reflect upon the women who have touched my life. Like a ripple of a pebble in a pond, I begin inward and think of my great-grandmothers, grandmothers, mother and mother-in-law and feel such gratitude to have been raised with strong, kind, loving, moral women.

As the ripple grows outward, I reflect on the many women of history. These women are numerous and I invite them into my mind and life for coffee and conversation as I read more about them. I love my conversations with women like Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelo, Abigail Adams, Dolores Huerta, Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Margaret Thatcher and Muna Lee. I have learned so much and I am a better woman for knowing them.

As I walk around Las Palmas Elementary School, my hope is that these children will be better off for learning about strong women of history as well as knowing the strong women in this multi-generational and multi-cultural town. I feel so fortunate to live in a town flowing with strong, involved and sensitive women.

As a mother of two growing girls, the many strong women living in this town, their involvement and interest in kids' lives, and the warm conversations of strangers continues to help my girls feel secure as they grow into beautiful women.

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